May 25th, 2015

HYC Fee Structure

Dear Members

Re: A Review and Update Regarding HYCs Fee Structure

Over the past twenty years, the average age of our Membership has been increasing like that
of many other clubs and the Canadian population overall. In fact, based on these trends we
estimate that those who are 65 and over will form the majority of our Senior Members within
five years.
Currently, only 9% of our Senior Members are under the age of 39. At the same time, 41%
are in the Senior 65+ or Senior 70+ membership categories and this percentage is increasing.
This situation of discounted seniors categories constituting such a large proportion of the fee
structure is unsustainable for the well-being and life-line of the Hudson Yacht Club. Due to our
changing demographics, the days when less than one-third of our senior members were
eligible for these discount categories are long gone.
Clearly, in order to reverse the bubble of seniors at the top age category, we need to attract
new younger members, including young members with families, for the long term viability of
the Club. We must also adjust the current annual fee scale to rebalance the under / over 65
age categories, recognizing that the seniors still warrant the benefit of age and longevity of
membership at HYC. At the same time the fee structure must provide the younger new
families an affordable membership and a strong reason for joining the Hudson Yacht Club to
allow us to continue being the family oriented place to bring up our youth in a comfortable
neighborhood surrounding.
As a lead up to the AGM this year, some bylaw changes were proposed to help the Club ensure
its long-term viability. The Board and Flag Officers felt that more time was required to
consider our options and to ensure that the membership understood the issues that we as a
club were facing under the current membership formula in the coming years. At that time,
Commodore Scotcher stated that an information session (or sessions) would be held later in
the year in order to inform and consult the membership.

A fee structure review committee

As a first step, a nine person committee was struck following the AGM to review our options
and to make recommendations. The members were selected to represent the Board and the
membership overall.

Fee Structure Review Committee

Doug Meredith (Chair)
David Law
Derek Patino
George Roberton
Gord Thompson

Colin Scotcher (Commodore)

James Campbell
Joan Kirby
Sharon Gaul

The mandate of the Committee is: To review the appropriateness of the present Membership
Categories and their associated Fee Structure in light of the changing demographic of the HYC
Membership and make a recommendation(s) to the Board of Directors if and as judged
necessary.

HYC Fee Structure

May 25th, 2015

Express your views

The committee has met over the winter months and delved into numerous issues and causes
for the imminent financial impacts, including changes in membership profiles, potential fee
adjustments, attraction impediments for new members and longer term financial predictions
under a do nothing scenario. These scenarios have been studied and their impacts
discussed.
The Committee would like to share some of these scenarios with the club membership and
receive input from the general membership prior to presenting comments to the Board. The
Committee will hold a first information exchange session Monday June 29th at 7:30 pm. This
is planned prior to the break for the summer holidays. In order to provide more background
and to enable those who cannot attend this meeting to express their views, we have also
developed a website which contains a short presentation, as well as a questionnaire and a blog
for comments. We would welcome your feedback.
It is the intention of the Committee to receive the comments from the membership and review
options during the summer/fall period. We will then convene a second meeting in the fall for
final membership discussion before presentations and recommendations are presented to the
Board. Additional updates and informal discussions are planned around various dinner and
social events over the summer to maintain a visibility of the issues that face HYC over the
coming months.
Heres the link to the website; HYC Fee Structure Please have a look, express your views and
we look forward to seeing you on the 29th